On Why the RenFest is a Mixed Blessing

Never thought it would be my parents encouraging me to buy a leather bustier.

Alex, I would expect. My best girlfriend Murph, I would expect. Pam, I would expect.

Did not expect my parents.

But they did. And I bought it. And it's hott. Yes, with two "t"s.
(ETA, by popular demand) The item in question:



Please pardon the different plaid shoelaces. Trust me, they're better (at least temporarily) than the ridiculous laces that were in it when I bought it, which were so stiff they stuck out on their own.

And now that I have an item for pirate garb, I would say I spent my limit today at the faire. Certainly. And probably will once again, the next time I go.

Which will not be until next month. Sad. And yet, very okay with that.

Also, I now have a desire to pick my recorders back up again. I have a soprano recorder and an alto recorder. Beyond that my hands just aren't big enough to play. But this is brought on by the fact that I've been thinking about it for a while and by the discovery today of a music ensemble I'd not seen before. (Ironic, seeing as how they play right before my favorite, The Pyrates Royale.) This ensemble is called Cercamon. And I am not ashamed to say that they stuck in my mind not only because of their fantastic medieval music but also because their frontman is absolutely beautiful. He is a gorgeous man. I noticed that after I noticed an instance of this: two at once. I've only seen that in pictures.

While I was at the RenFest and shopping in a WONDERFUL accessory shop, my dad's friend commented to me that I should be designing clothes for a living. Truer words were never spoken. I do still have a desire to work with medieval manuscripts and stay involved in the study of the middle ages, but really? I would be so happy to design and make stuff all the time. Of course I'd still have other hobbies. But my work would be so much more like play. And that would be fine with me. If I could feasibly quit my day job and spin/crochet/knit/sew/design all day, that would be wonderful. Alas, I cannot, and it's not that I don't like my job at all, it's just that I much prefer doing those things. That's what I really think about all day while I'm working. Most people zone out thinking about what they're going to do over the weekend, where they're going to go for dinner, whether that hottie at the bar last night is really going to call him/her... I zone out and think up new and interesting ways to make threads wearable. Now I am already signed on to design for my friend's next summer show, and that's really preoccupying my mind. Most of what I'm thinking about has to do with costumes and visuals for that show. Ohhh how I can't wait for next summer...

And for my next trip to the RenFest. Feathered hat, here I come!